Automatic cotton packer



Jan. 14, 1930. G. T. GALE 1,743,940

' AUTOMATIC COTTON PAcKER Filed May 29, 1928 s Sheets-Sheet 1 [s Qwuentoo {TI g? GILEs T'GALE Jan. 14, 1930.

G; T. GALE I AUTOMATIC COTTON PACKER Filed May 2 9. 1928- 3 Sheets-Slrxet 2 J n. 14, 1930. K 'G. T. GALE 1 7 3,9 0

' AUTOMATIC COTTON PACKER Filed May 29, 1928 S Sheets-Sheet 3 gnaw/"too GILES T GALE,

725 to be understood that, changes, variations and Patented Jan. 14', 1930 onirsn stares PATENT oFFicE GILES T. GALE, or roar won'rn, TEXAS AUTOMATIC Application filed May 29,

My invention relates to an automatic attachment for belt driven packers used for compressing loose material into compact form for economizing of space and easy handling.

'10 is full of cotton and to cause the tamper to remain stationary at the upper limit of its return movement for an interval of time suflicient to permit refilling of the press box.

A further object vof my invention resides in the provision of an attachment of this character which is of simple and durable construction, reliable and effective in operation and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

With theforegoing and other objects in View, the invention consists of the novel construction hereinafter more specifically stated, and illustrated in the acompanying drawings wherein are shown improvements, butit is modifications may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Indescribing the invention in detail, reference is had to the acompanying drawings which form a partof this specification and wherein like characters of reference indicate corresponding partsthroughout the several views in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the complete device;

Fig. 2 is aside elevation; V

Fig. 3 isan end elevation; and

Fig. 4 is a disassembled view of some of the important parts of the device.

Referring to the, drawings in detail, the

frame work forming the press box 10 to which the cotton is fed by any suitable means is composed of parallel horizontal members 11 and cross members 12securing saidhorizontal members together. In conjunction with the press box agate 13 is provided of suitable construction, said gate being hingedly attached to the press box. 10. The

means for drivin the tam er head inclndes here.

'ITON PACKER- 1928. Serial No. 281,525.

a driving shaft 14 on which an idle or loose pulley 15 andfixed pulley 16 are mounted, the pulley 15 being free to rotate relative to the shaft but the shaft and pulley 16 being constructed to rotatein unison. A belt (not shown) is provided in conjunction with the pulleys 16 and 15 for driving the shaft 14. hen the belt is engaged with th'e pulley 15, its motion is not transmitted to the shaft 14 since the pulley 15 rotates on the shaft 14; and when the belt is engaged with the pulley 16 the shaft 14 is driven and consequently the press 17 is caused to antomati callydescend and ascend in the press box 10. The motion transmission means between the shaft 14 and the press is well known and widely employed and needs no detail description The automatic attachment which constitutes the present inventioncomprises a belt shifter designatedat 18 which co-acts with the belt when operatively associated with the automatic attachment for causing the that the belt is caused to be shifted back onto the loosepulley '15 when the press has completed a cycle of operation; that is, when it has descended to compress the cotton and then ascends upwardly to the limit of its return stroke. In carrying out these purposes the automatic attachment comprises a ranged to operate the carrier bar forward and backwards in its bearingwhereby the belt is shifted from the idler pulley 15 to the-fixed pulley16.

Upwardly extending arm 20 is provided with an offset, member 23 having an aperture 24through which passes shaft 25, the upwardly extending arm 20 beingprovided at its upper end with an oppositely disposed offset )ortion 26 having an aperture 27 throng 1 whichthe bell crank arm 28 is held inoperable engagement. sen crank arm 28 beltto engage with the fixed pulley 16 when p the press box has been filled with cotton, so

is provided with a slot 29 which engages the bolt 30 extending through the side walls of the offset portion 26 whereby the bell crank arm 28 is held in stationary inactive position until the slot 29 is disengaged from the bolt 30 due to actuation of the bell crank arm 28 through the instrumentality of the lever 35. Bell crank arm 28 carries at its outer end a pin 32 which engages with the side walls of the offset member 26, and upon movement of the bell crank arm 28 the length of travel of the bell crank arm is restricted to a distance not beyond a point defined by pin at 32.

In operation when the slot 29 of bell crank arm 28 is disengaged from the bolt 30, the spring 33 operates to cause the pivoted arm 20 to move laterally of the machine thereby causing the belt control 18 to function so that the belt is shifted from the idle pulley 15 to the fixed pulley 16, thus putting into operation the entire mechanism of the press.

Lever 31 is provided with a latch 34 for the purpose of permitting the operator to disengage the press mechanism when desiring to enter the press box 10; and a hand operating lever 55 is connected to the rod 19 to permit the operator to shift the belt whenever desired.

Bell crank arm 28 is pivotally connected to bell crank 42 by rivet 43 and to the opposite end of the bell crank 42 is attached a movable arm 44 adapted to be actuated by the press. Bell crank 42 is pivotally mounted at 52 in support 53 carried by cross member 12, and is actuated by the arm 35, said arm 35 being provided at one end thereof with an offset jaw 45 and bearing 46 adapted to receive in slidable engagement the bottom portion of the bell crank arm 28 at its intermediate section for the purpose of exerting premure upwardly against the bell crank arm 28 to disengage the slot 29, from the bolt 30, carried by the upright member 20.

Arm 35 is pivoted at 36 by rivet 37 and carries at its other end a rod 38 slidably connected by means of stop lugs 39. and spring 40. The lower end of rod 38 is connected to lever 31, said rod being connected in turn to tiltable member 41 so that when pressure of the cotton actuates said lever 31 the upright rod 38 is moved downwardly a suitable distance to actuate arm 35 which in turn raises the bell crank arm 28, the rod 38 being constructed so as to have a limited ing mechanism includes rod 25 and arm 47 swingably connected to rod 25 at 48. Arm 47 is provided with brake shoe 49 which engages the periphery of the fixed pulley 16 when the belt is shifted to the idler pulley 15. Rod 25 is slidably mounted in the aperture 24 of the offset member 23 of the arm 20. A spring take up 50 is provided between the offset member 23 and one end of the rod 25, and when the arm 20 is shifted in throwing the belt member from the fixed pulley 16 to the idler pulley 15, the brake shoe 49 is caused to be automatically applied to the periphery of the fixed pulley to stop rotation of the fixed pulley l6 and shaft 14.

In operation, when the bolt 30 is engaged in the notch 29 and the press member 17 is at the upper limit of its stroke and the press box is being filled, arms 20 and 28 are held in the position shown in Figure 1. When the press box 10 has been filled with the desired amount of cotton, the gate 13 is swung outwardly, the pressure of the cotton in swinging the gate 13 outwardly acting on the lever 31 and causing a downward movement of the rod 38. Downward movement of the rod 38 causes arm 35 to raise the bell crank arm 28, disengaging the slot 29 in the bell crank arm 28 which is hooked on bolt 30. Spring- 33 thus moves arm 20 to engagement with pin 32 which operates the belt shifter in shifting the belt to the fixed pulley. As the press 17 lowers, moving arm 44 is lowered by bell crank 42 and remains in lowered position until press 17 returns upwardly and again comes into contact with foot 51 of the moving arm 44; and the moving arm is raised so that the belt is shifted back to idle pulley 15 which'returns the arm 28 back into theslot 29 ,re-engaging it with bolt 30, thus completing the cycle of operation.

What I claim is:

1. In an automatic cotton packer having a press box; )ress member; means for driving the press including a shaft; loose pulley on said shaft, a. fixed pulley on the shaft, said pulleys being adapted to carry and cooperate with a belt; an automatic attachment for the packer including a shiftable carrier bar having a belt shifter; an upright operating arm; bell crank arm; bell crank means controlled by the pressure of cotton in the press box for releasing the connection between the upright operating arm and bell crank arm; means for biasing the position of the operating arm to cause the shifter to apply the driving power to the fixed pulley; and means carried by the bell crank and cooperating with the operating arm for causing the shifter rod to operatively shift the driving power to the loose pulley when the bell crank arm is connected to the operating arm and the press member is at the upper limit of its stroke.

2. In a belt driven cotton packer having a press box, press member, means for driving the press including a shaft, a loose pulley on said shaft and a fixed pulley on said shaft, said pulleys adapted to carry and cooperate with a belt, an automatic attachment for the packer including a shifter bar having a belt shifter connected thereto, an upright operating arm, a bell crank arm, a bell crank, moving arm, automatic releasing connection between the operating arm and the bell crank arm, said releasing means being also automatically self-setting; means for biasing the position of the operating arm to cause the shifter to apply the driving means to the fixed pulley, a moving arm carried by the bell crank and cooperating with the operating arm to cause the shifter rod to operate when the driving power is shifted to the loose pulley when the bell crank arm is connected to the operating arm and the press member is at the upper limit of its stroke; and means cooperating with said operating arm to instantaneously bring the fixed pulley to idle position when the driving power has been shifted to the idle pulley.

3. In a belt driven packer, an automatic attachment including a moving bar, a bell crank arm, bell crank, upright operating arm, a releasable connection for the said operating arm and bell crank arm; means controlled by the amount of cotton in the press for releasing said bell crank arm; means for shifting the operating arm upon release of the bell crank arm; press control means for automatically regulating the shifting of the bell crank arm and braking means cooperating with said operating arm.

4:. In an automatic driven cotton packer including a press box, a press, means for driving the tamper including a shaft having a fixed pulley and loose pulley mounted thereon, a gate associated with the press box and swingable outwardly from the press box when the press box is filled with cotton; an automatic attachment including a slidable carrier bar; a belt shifter connected to the carrier bar, vertical operating arm, bell crank arm provided with a notch on its under side, pin mounted in the end of the bell crank arm engageable with the said operating arm, spring for biasing the position of the operating arm, a release bar cooperating with the bell crank arm, a motion transmission means between said gate and the bell crank arm; and a latch carried by the said means to disengage the press.

5. In an automatic driven cotton packer including a press box; a press means for driving the tamper including a shaft having a fixed pulley and a loose pulley thereon; a gate associated with the press box and swingable outwardly from the press box when the press box is filled with cotton; automatic attachment including a slidable carrier bar; belt shifter connected to said carrier bar; vertical operating arm; a bell crank arm provided with a notch on its underside and adapted to engage a bolt carried by the operating arm; spring for biasing the position of the operating arm; a release bar cooperating with the bell crank arm; motion means between the gate and the bell crank arm, said means consisting of a pivoted bar, said pivoted bar provided with an offset jaw to receive the bell crank arm; an upright rod swingably connected to a base member; and a lever to receive the pressure exerted by the gate when swung outwardly.

GILES T. GALE. 

